Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Friedman Archives Guide to Sony's Rx-100 V
    The Friedman Archives Guide to Sony's Rx-100 V
    The Friedman Archives Guide to Sony's Rx-100 V
    Ebook728 pages19 hours

    The Friedman Archives Guide to Sony's Rx-100 V

    By Gary Friedman

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Love your new 20 megapixel wonder, but having a hard time understanding (and configuring!) all those features?

    Written for the advanced user (with tutorials and easy explanations in case you are not so advanced), this easy-to-understand yet thorough guide provides a complete instruction manual which explains each feature in plain English and provides hundreds of visual examples as well. In this 613-page, book you'll learn:

    * What every mode, button and function does - in plain, easy-to-understand language.
    * My personal camera configuration
    * Unique features of the RX-10 II, including the unusually high Flash Sync Speed
    * How to decypher the alphabet soup that are the video standards;
    * NFC, Wi-Fi, and step-by-step instructions on using them.
    * Which of the new downloadable "apps" are actually useful.
    * A tutorial to get the benefits of shooting RAW, and a condensed guide to the basics.
    * A set of "Cliffs Notes" TIP cards

    Downloadable .pdf is available at the author's website
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLulu.com
    Release dateFeb 24, 2017
    ISBN9781365780691
    The Friedman Archives Guide to Sony's Rx-100 V

    Read more from Gary Friedman

    Related to The Friedman Archives Guide to Sony's Rx-100 V

    Related ebooks

    Art For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Reaching For The Sky

      Oct 14, 2022

      Reaching For The Sky
      5 min read

    • Article

      Panasonic Lumix DC-TZ200

      May 20, 2018

      Panasonic Lumix DC-TZ200
      9 min read

    • Article

      Exposure Metering

      Jul 6, 2021

      Exposure Metering
      6 min read

    • Article

      Colour Grading Explained

      Sep 23, 2021

      Colour Grading Explained
      2 min read

    • Article

      What To Do When Equipment Is Discontinued

      Aug 26, 2021

      Progress is inevitable and sooner or later the equipment you’re using will be classed as out-of-date. It may be in five years time or, if you’re lucky and have made wise choices, 10 to 15 years. Technology changes quickly in the digital age. Have you

      5 min read

    • Article

      Your Best Shot

      Jan 24, 2023

      Your Best Shot
      3 min read

    • Article

      True Macro Photography

      Aug 26, 2021

      True Macro Photography
      4 min read

    • Article

      Martin Parr

      Mar 19, 2018

      Martin Parr
      1 min read

    • Article

      Leica M11 Monochrom

      May 13, 2023

      Leica M11 Monochrom
      13 min read

    • Article

      Let’s De-Noise a Noisy Photo

      Jun 30, 2020

      Let’s De-Noise a Noisy Photo
      4 min read

    • Article

      Shoot For The Stars

      Apr 13, 2021

      Shoot For The Stars
      4 min read

    • Article

      5 Tips for B&W Printing

      Sep 11, 2021

      5 Tips for B&W Printing
      9 min read

    • Article

      Slow Shutter Speeds

      Aug 5, 2022

      Slow Shutter Speeds
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Go-Anywhere Console

      Nov 12, 2021

      The Go-Anywhere Console
      1 min read

    • Article

      Starlit Landscapes

      Jul 10, 2021

      Starlit Landscapes
      5 min read

    • Article

      Beauty Of Blur

      Nov 22, 2021

      Delete…that’s not sharp. Delete… that one’s blurred. Hang on, I like that look! Sorting through our images like this is something that all photographers probably do after most of our shoots. And although it’s often easy just to ditch anything you thi

      2 min read

    • Article

      Back Issues

      May 3, 2019

      Back Issues
      2 min read

    • Article

      Back Issues

      Apr 5, 2019

      Back Issues
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Friedman Archives Guide to Sony's Rx-100 V

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Friedman Archives Guide to Sony's Rx-100 V - Gary Friedman

      The Complete Guide to Sony’s RX-100 V

      Professional insights for the experienced photographer

      by Gary L. Friedman

      Version 1.02

      ISBN 978-1-365-78069-1

      On The Cover

      The Capital building in Washington, DC. 1/60th, f/2.8, exposure compensation set to -1.3.

      For Those of You Who Bought the Printed  or E-Reader Edition

      There are a LOT of demonstrative illustrations in this book that kind of lose their effectiveness when converted to black-and-white.  And some are difficult to see on e-book reader screens like the original Kindle.

      And so to offset these problems I’m offering a free, full-color, instantly-downloadable .pdf file of this ebook to all customers who bought printed books (be they color or black-and-white), or who purchased this work through the Amazon Kindle, Apple, Barnes and Noble, or any other e-reader store.  (The original .pdf file really does offer a superior user experience.  Think of it as the director’s cut regarding how the author intended the work to be seen.) 

      To get your free .pdf file, just email me (Gary@FriedmanArchives.com) with a copy of your receipt and I’ll send you a download link.  Such a deal!

      About the Photos

      Most of the example photos in Chapters 1-14 were indeed taken with an RX-100 (including the front and back covers!).  The photo pages preceding each chapter are images from the www.FriedmanArchives.com stock photo website, and were taken with a wide variety of different cameras over the past 30 years.

      About the Author

      www.FriedmanArchives.com, is associate editor of f2 CameraCraft magazine (a thoughtful periodical which steers clear of gear and talks about what’s really important in a photograph), and gives highly-acclaimed digital photography seminars worldwide for those who wish to improve their creative photography and learn the essentials in an intuitive manner.  Because he teaches seminars worldwide, Mr. Friedman stays in touch with the concerns and challenges of serious amateurs – the kinds of people who buy cameras like the RX-100.

      Before graduating to photography he was a rocket scientist for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (you know, those guys who landed probes on Mars and sent robots like Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo, Pathfinder, Spirit, and Discovery to explore the outer solar system), where he patented the image authentication system used in high-end Canon and Nikon cameras. He has been published in books, newspapers and magazines worldwide, and was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records while in college (go ahead and search the FriedmanArchives.com website if you want to find out what he did to get included). 

      Despite his mastery of the technical background, Mr. Friedman has an approachable and easy-going teaching style that makes his books a pleasure to read. You can read more about his background at http://friedmanarchives.com/bio.htm.

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1      In a Nutshell

      1.1

            

      Noteworthy Features

      1.1.1      On-sensor Phase-Detection AF

      1.1.2      24 Pictures Per Second

      1.1.3      High Frame Rate (HFR) videos

      1.1.4      Tools for Videographers

      1.1.5      Can shoot 2 Kinds of videos simultaneously

      1.1.6      Capturing Stills in Video Mode has returned

      1.1.7      Pop-Up EVF

      1.1.8      Wi-Fi and NFC

      1.1.9      A Hinge for Selfies

      1.1.10      Awesome Lens and Its Sweet Spot

      1.1.11      Built-in Neutral Density Filter

      1.1.12      Sweep Panorama

      1.1.13      Four (!) Different Low-Light Modes

      1.1.14      High Dynamic Range (HDR)

      1.1.15      Peaking Color

      1.1.16      Face Detection and Eye AF

      1.1.17      Auto Dual Record

      1.1.18      Downloadable Apps

      1.1.19      Remote Methods

      1.2

            

      Software for your Camera

      Chapter 2      Essential Configuration

      2.1

            

      The Function Button

      2.2

            

      Reassignable Buttons

      2.3

            

      Other Essential Customizations

      2.4

            

      Control Ring around the Lens

      2.5

            

      What’s Incompatible with RAW?

      2.6

            

      My Personal Camera Settings

      Chapter 3      Quick Guide for the Impatient User

      3.1

            

      The Two AUTO Modes

      3.1.1      Intelligent Auto

      3.1.2      Superior Auto

      3.1.3      Tweaking AUTO settings

      3.2

            

      P,A,S,M Modes

      3.3

            

      Focusing Essentials and Face Detection

      3.3.1      Focusing Modes

      3.3.2      Focus Confirmation

      3.4

            

      Things You Probably Didn’t Know about Playback Mode

      3.5

            

      Configuring the DISPlay

      3.6

            

      A Quick Guide for Video

      3.7

            

      Different Ways to Track a Subject

      3.8

            

      Flash

      3.9

            

      Bounce Flash

      3.10

            

      The Panorama Mode

      3.11

            

      The Images Remaining Counter

      Chapter 4      Wi-Fi, NFC, and Apps

      4.1

            

      What is NFC?

      4.2

            

      Setting Things Up – Smartphone Functions

      4.2.1      Install PlayMemories Mobile

      4.2.2      Transferring an Image To your Smartphone

      4.2.3      Configuring NFC on your Smartphone

      4.3

            

      Now What?

      4.3.1      Send (resized) images to your smartphone for social Media

      4.3.2      Remote Control with Viewfinder

      4.4

            

      Uploading Files to your Home Computer

      4.4.1      Configuring PlayMemories Home

      4.4.2      Initiate your Download

      4.4.3      Throughput Rates

      4.5

            

      Applications

      Chapter 5      The Recording (Camera icon) Menu Settings

      5.1

            

      Image Size

      5.2

            

      Aspect Ratio

      5.3

            

      Quality

      5.4

            

      Imag. Size (Dual Rec)

      5.5

            

      Quality (Dual Rec)

      5.6

            

      (Movie) File Format

      5.7

            

      (Movie) Record Setting

      5.8

            

      Dual Video RECord

      5.9

            

      HFR Settings

      5.9.1      Preparing for HFR Video

      5.9.2      Shooting HFR Video

      5.9.3      Caveats You Should Know About

      5.10

            

      Panorama Functions

      5.11

            

      Drive Mode

      5.11.1      Single-Shot Advance

      5.11.2      Continuous Advance

      5.11.3      10s, 5s, and 2s Self-Timers

      5.11.4      Self-Timer Continuous

      5.11.5      Bracketing

      5.11.6      Bracketing for HDR

      5.11.7      What exactly changes when you bracket?

      5.11.8      White Balance Bracketing

      5.11.9      DRO Bracketing

      5.12

            

      Bracket Settings

      5.13

            

      Flash Mode

      5.13.1      Flash Off

      5.13.2      Auto Flash

      5.13.3      Fill Flash

      5.13.4      Slow Sync

      5.13.5      Rear Sync

      5.14

            

      Flash Compensation

      5.15

            

      Red Eye Reduction

      5.16

            

      Focus Mode

      5.17

            

      focus Area

      5.17.1      Wide

      5.17.2      Center

      5.17.3      Flexible Spot (S, M, or L)

      5.17.4      Expand Flexible Spot

      5.17.5      Lock-On AF

      5.18

            

      AF Illuminator

      5.19

            

      AF Drive Speed

      5.20

            

      AF Track Sens

      5.21

            

      Exposure Compensation

      5.22

            

      ISO

      5.22.1      High ISO Noise Levels

      5.22.2      Multi-Frame Noise Reduction (MFNR)

      5.22.3      AUTO ISO Settings

      5.22.4      Specifying Auto ISO Boundaries

      5.22.5      Less-than-125 ISO Values

      5.23

            

      ISO Auto Min. SS

      5.24

            

      ND Filter

      5.25

            

      Metering Mode

      5.25.1      Center-weighted and Multi-Segment Metering

      5.25.2      Spot Metering

      5.25.3      A Different Method of Handling Difficult Lighting

      5.26

            

      White Balance

      5.26.1      Auto White Balance and Pre-Set White Balance

      5.26.2      Tweaking the Pre-Set White Balance

      5.26.3      The Color Temperature setting

      5.26.4      Custom White Balance

      5.27

            

      DRO / Auto HDR

      5.28

            

      Creative Style

      5.28.1      Frequently Asked Questions

      Contrast Setting

      5.28.2      Saturation Setting

      5.28.3      Sharpness Setting

      5.28.4      Combining Settings

      5.28.5      B&W Mode

      5.29

            

      Picture Effect

      5.29.1      Toy Camera

      5.29.2      Pop Color and Posterization

      5.29.3      Retro Photo

      5.29.4      Partial Color

      5.29.5      Soft High-Key

      5.29.6      High-Contrast Monochrome

      5.29.7      Soft Focus

      5.29.8      HDR Painting

      5.29.9      Rich-Tone Monochrome

      5.29.10      How do these effects Differ?

      5.29.11      Miniature Mode

      5.29.12      Watercolor and Illustration Mode

      5.30

            

      Picture Profile

      5.30.1      Gamma Options

      5.30.2      The Seven Profiles

      5.31

            

      Focus Magnifier

      5.32

            

      Long Exposure NR

      5.33

            

      Hi ISO NR

      5.34

            

      Center Lock-On AF

      5.35

            

      Smile / Face Detection

      5.35.1      On (Registered Faces)

      5.35.2      Smile Shutter

      5.36

            

      Auto Dual Rec(ord)

      5.37

            

      Soft Skin Effect

      5.38

            

      Auto Object Framing

      5.39

            

      Auto Mode

      5.40

            

      Scene Selection

      5.40.1      Portrait

      5.40.2      Anti-Motion Blur

      5.40.3      Sports Action

      5.40.4      Pet

      5.40.5      Gourmet

      5.40.6      Macro

      5.40.7      Landscape

      5.40.8      Sunset

      5.40.9      Night Scene

      5.40.10      Handheld Twilight

      5.40.11      Night Portrait

      5.40.12      Fireworks

      5.40.13      High Sensitivity

      5.41

            

      High Frame Rate

      5.42

            

      Movie

      5.43

            

      SteadyShot (Stills)

      5.44

            

      SteadyShot (Movies)

      5.45

            

      Color Space

      5.46

            

      Auto Slow Shutter

      5.47

            

      Audio Recording

      5.48

            

      Micref Level

      5.49

            

      Wind Noise Reduction

      5.50

            

      Memory Recall

      5.51

            

      Memory

      Chapter 6      Custom (Gear icon) Menu Settings

      6.1

            

      Zebra

      6.2

            

      MF Assist

      6.3

            

      Focus Magnification Time

      6.4

            

      Initial Focus Magnification

      6.5

            

      Grid Line

      6.6

            

      Marker Display / Marker Settings

      6.7

            

      Auto Review

      6.8

            

      DISP Button

      6.8.1      Graphic Display

      6.8.2      Level

      6.8.3      Histogram

      6.8.4      For Viewfinder (Rear LCD only)

      6.9

            

      Peaking Level / Peaking Color

      6.10

            

      Exposure Set. Guide

      6.11

            

      Live View Display

      6.12

            

      AF Area Auto Clear

      6.13

            

      Display Continuous AF Area

      6.14

            

      Phase Detection Area

      6.15

            

      Pre-AF

      6.16

            

      Zoom Speed

      6.17

            

      Zoom Setting

      6.17.1      Differences between CIZ and Digital Zoom

      6.18

            

      FINDER / MONITOR

      6.19

            

      Release w/o Card

      6.20

            

      AEL w/ Shutter

      6.21

            

      Shutter Type

      6.22

            

      Self-Portrait/ -timer

      6.23

            

      Face Registration

      6.24

            

      Write Date

      6.25

            

      Function Menu Set.

      6.26

            

      Custom Key (Shooting and Playing Back)

      6.26.1      Control Ring

      6.26.2      Other Button Assignments

      6.26.3      Bright Monitoring

      6.26.4      More on Eye AF

      6.26.5      Custom Key (Playing Back)

      6.27

            

      Zoom Func. on Ring

      6.28

            

      MOVIE Button

      6.29

            

      Wheel Lock

      Chapter 7      Wi-Fi Menu

      7.1

            

      Send to Smartphone

      7.2

            

      Send to Computer

      7.3

            

      View on TV

      7.4

            

      One-Touch (NFC)

      7.5

            

      Airplane Mode

      7.6

            

      WPS Push

      7.7

            

      Access Point Settings

      7.8

            

      Edit Device Name

      7.9

            

      Disp MAC Address

      7.10

            

      SSID/PW Reset

      7.11

            

      Reset Network Settings

      Chapter 8      Apps Menu

      8.1

            

      Application List

      8.2

            

      Introduction

      Chapter 9      The Playback Menu Settings

      9.1

            

      Delete

      9.2

            

      View Mode

      9.3

            

      Image Index

      9.4

            

      Display Rotation

      9.5

            

      Slide Show

      9.5.1      PhotoTV HD and Bravia Sync

      9.6

            

      Rotate

      9.7

            

      Enlarge Image

      9.8

            

      Enlarge Initial Magnification

      9.9

            

      Enlarge Initial Position

      9.10

            

      Protect

      9.11

            

      Motion Interval ADJ

      9.12

            

      Specify Printing

      9.12.1      Printing the Date on the image

      9.12.2      Cancelling DPOF files

      9.13

            

      Beauty Effect

      9.14

            

      Photo Capture

      Chapter 10      The Setup (Toolbox Icon) Menu Settings

      10.1

            

      Monitor Brightness

      10.2

            

      Viewfinder (EVF) Brightness

      10.3

            

      Finder Color temp.

      10.4

            

      Gamma Display Assist

      10.5

            

      Volume Settings

      10.6

            

      Audio Signals

      10.7

            

      Upload Settings (Eye-fi card only)

      10.8

            

      Tile Menu

      10.9

            

      Mode Dial Guide

      10.10

            

      Delete Confirm.

      10.11

            

      Display Quality

      10.12

            

      Power Save Start Time

      10.13

            

      Function for VF Close

      10.14

            

      NTSC/PAL Selector

      10.15

            

      Demo Mode

      10.16

            

      TC/UB Settings

      10.17

            

      HDMI Settings

      10.17.1      HDMI Resolution

      10.17.2      24p / 60p Output

      10.17.3      HDMI Info. Display

      10.17.4      TC Output

      10.17.5      REC Control

      10.17.6      CTRL FOR HDMI

      10.17.7      HDMI Audio Out

      10.18

            

      4K Output Select

      10.19

            

      USB Connection

      10.19.1      PC Remote Software

      10.20

            

      USB LUN Setting

      10.21

            

      USB Power Supply

      10.22

            

      Language

      10.23

            

      Date/Time Setup

      10.24

            

      Area Setting

      10.25

            

      Copyright Info

      10.26

            

      Format

      10.27

            

      File Number

      10.28

            

      Set File Name

      10.29

            

      Select REC Folder

      10.30

            

      New Folder

      10.31

            

      Folder Name

      10.31.1      If Standard Form is Selected

      10.31.2      If Date Form is Selected

      10.32

            

      Recover Image Database

      10.33

            

      Display Media Info.

      10.34

            

      Version

      10.35

            

      Setting Reset

      Chapter 11      Movie Mode

      11.1

            

      The Simplified Explanations

      11.2

            

      So How Do I Know What Video Format to Choose?

      11.3

            

      Choosing a Frame Rate and a Bit Rate

      11.4

            

      More on 4K Shooting

      11.4.1      Shooting 4K a Lot?

      11.5

            

      Capturing a Freeze Frame

      11.5.1      Method 1 – In camera

      11.5.2      Method 2 – Using PlayMemories Home

      11.6

            

      Slow-Motion Videos

      11.7

            

      Dual Record

      11.8

            

      Manual Control in Movie Mode

      11.9

            

      S-Log2 Primer

      11.9.1      The Gamma Curves

      11.9.2      Gamma Curve Nomenclature

      11.9.3      HDTVs have Much Less Dynamic Range

      11.9.4      S-Log2

      11.9.5      Grading

      11.10

            

      Playing back Videos

      11.11

            

      Shooting 2 Video Formats At Once

      11.12

            

      Importing your Files to your Computer

      11.13

            

      Motion Shot Video

      Chapter 12      DRO and HDR

      12.1

            

      Dynamic Range Optimization

      12.1.1      How it Works

      12.1.2      More DRO examples

      12.1.3      Frequently Asked Questions about DRO

      12.1.4      So When Does DRO kick in?

      12.1.5      When DRO is bad

      12.1.6      Combining with Sunset Image Style

      12.1.7      DRO on Your Computer

      12.2

            

      High Dynamic Range (HDR)

      12.3

            

      DRO vs. HDR

      Chapter 13      Digital Imaging Topics

      13.1

            

      Introduction

      13.2

            

      An Introduction to RAW

      13.3

            

      The Bayer Filter and Demosaicing

      13.4

            

      How Your Camera Creates A JPG

      13.5

            

      RAW, TIF, and JPG Compared

      13.6

            

      JPG Compression Artifacts

      13.7

            

      Any Other Upsides to Shooting .JPG?

      13.8

            

      RAW Processing using catpure One Express

      13.9

            

      RAW Processing using Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW

      13.10

            

      Image Size and Resolution

      13.11

            

      Hot Pixels

      13.12

            

      Memory Cards

      13.12.1      Memory Card Corruption Issues

      Chapter 14      Additional Resources

      14.1

            

      Some Cool Accessories

      14.1.1      Grip

      14.1.2      Screen Protector

      14.1.3      Add-On Optics

      14.1.4      Leather Case

      14.1.5      SteadyCam

      14.1.6      Underwater housings

      14.1.7       External USB Battery

      14.1.8      Filters and Macro Lens

      14.2

            

      Upsells

      14.2.1      Books on Other Cameras

      14.2.2      25 Ways to Wow! e-Booklet

      14.2.3      f2 Cameracraft Magazine

      14.2.4      The Friedman Archives Seminars

      14.2.5      The Friedman Archives Blog

      14.2.6      The Road to China

      14.2.7      The Maui Xaphoon

      14.3

            

      Epilogue

      Appendix A      A Condensed Guide to the Basics

      A.1

            

      Shutter Speeds

      A.2

            

      F/Stops

      A.3

            

      ISO

      A.4

            

      Focal Length

      A.5

            

      Tradeoffs

      A.6

            

      Program Shift

      A.7

            

      The Histogram Display

      14.3.1      Brightness range, sensors, and the human eye

      14.3.2      Using the Histogram for a finer degree of control

      A.8

            

      The Secrets of Light and Composition

      A.9

            

      Writing with Light

      A.10

            

      Composition – The Rule of Thirds

      Out of place shot

      Texture

      Classical Portrait

      Environmental Portrait

      Hey, Look at Me!

      Appendix B      A Cookbook for Special Shooting Situations

      B.1

            

      Introduction

      B.2

            

      Street Photography

      B.3

            

      Fireworks

      B.4

            

      Artistic Waterfalls

      B.5

            

      Stage Performances / Rock Concerts

      B.6

            

      Nighttime Time Exposures

      B.7

            

      Shooting in Snow

      B.8

            

      Outdoor Group Portraits

      B.9

            

      Sunsets and Silhouettes

      B.10

            

      Nighttime Sports

      B.11

            

      Christmas Lights

      B.12

            

      Product Shots

      B.13

            

      Candlelight Shots

      B.14

            

      Star Trails

      Appendix C      Tip Cards

      Index

      Mercedez Benz has a division called AMG which takes their stock vehicles and super-charges them with high-performance features.  BMW has their M division that does the same thing.  Their cars may look perfectly normal on the outside, but the raw horsepower on the inside is a whole 'nuther story.

      That's kind of what Sony did with the RX-100 mark V.  They developed a new sensor with phase-detect autofocus sensors built right in, with supporting electronics and memory to make sure it could suck that data off the sensor as quickly as possible.  The result?  Follow-focus without hunting.  And the ability to shoot a whopping 24 pictures per second – unheard of even in pro-level cameras. 

      So you can think of your RX-100 V as having a point-and-shoot with a Porsche engine.

      It's no secret that I love the RX-100 cameras.  Back in August 2014 I was extolling the virtues of the RX-100 models in my blog (http://bit.ly/1yvfm3l), specifically their portability, convenience, and image quality, the latter of which is out of proportion to their small size.  All of my RX-100 cameras have been capturing the grandkids as they grow up, because unlike my larger cameras they are always with me.  (And they produce superior quality images to your average smartphone camera!)

      Between the silent operation, face recognition and burst-shooting mode, there is no better nor more capable point-and-shoot on the planet.  Congratulations.  You've chosen a winner!  (Oh, and did I mention that this tiny thing also shoots 4K video??)

      With good light, images from this camera are so good that when blown up you’d be hard-pressed to tell which images were taken with my RX-100 or my larger full-frame cameras.  Many RX-100 images grace the www.FriedmanArchives.com stock photography website, and about 63 have been licensed to very happy customers thusfar.  Not bad for a point-and-shoot.

      Apparently I’m not alone.  The original RX-100 very quickly became a legend among professional photographers of all brands as their pocket camera of choice.  Its image quality has been willingly accepted (and sold!) by stock image libraries like Alamy.  And there are documented cases of travel and stock photographers abandoning their full-frame DSLR cameras to roam the world with this exceptional tiny camera so as not to call attention to themselves.  So you’re in good company.

      There are so many features on this camera that I could write a book explaining all of them.  (Oh, wait…)  But let me start with some of the highlights:

      A little history:  A previous incarnation of this sensor (the one used in the RX-100 MK3) was so good that other camera manufacturers used it in their similarly-spec’d cameras – including the Panasonic FZ1000, the DxO 1 (a connected camera for iPhones), and TWO bridge cameras from Canon - the Powershot G3X and G7X (shocking for a company that insists on making all of its own sensors!). 

      Then a newer version for the RX-100 IV was designed that had something called a stacked design.  In addition to ever-so-slightly better high ISO performance, this new sensor was designed from the ground up to get the data off the chip as quickly as possible, enabling some pretty important features: 2 kinds of slow motion video, 16 pictures-per-second (this was on the RX-100 IV, remember), a top shutter speed of 1/32,000th of a second (for your next trip to the Sun), and an electronic shutter which approaches - but doesn’t quite reach - the holy grail of a global shutter – where all the pixels can be turned on and off at exactly the same time, rather than capturing and reading out one row at a time.  This reduced the rolling shutter effect greatly. (Read more about rolling shutter in Section 6.21.)

      For the RX-100 V, an even newer sensor was developed, this time they incorporated a very sophisticated autofocus technology called Phase-Detect AF.  It’s what the big DSLRs use to accurately track Olympic athletes.  It’s responsible for the skateboarder being in focus in every single frame in Figure 1-4.  And it is responsible for better video focusing with less hunting in most circumstances.

      Phase Detection AF works in all modes EXCEPT when the video mode is set to XAVC S HD at 100p or 120p.  It also won't work when your f/stop is f/8 or smaller (meaning a higher f/number).  In these instances the camera will fall back on contrast-detect AF which worked extremely well for its predecessors.

      As mentioned a few pages ago, the RX-100 V can shoot a whopping 24 pictures per second at full resolution.  And it will autofocus and auto expose between frames!  It can keep this up for 150 .jpgs or 60 RAW+JPGs thanks to its massive buffer.

      To put that engineering achievement into perspective, Nikon's top-of-the-line D5 DLSR also sports 20 megapixels but can shoot at only 12 pictures per second with follow-focus.  That camera costs $6K and doesn't fit in your pocket.

      And check this out: 24 pictures per second is the same frame rate as 4K shooting.  But whereas each 4K video frame is a mere 3840 x 2160 pixels, each RX-100 V frame is 5472 x 3648 pixels – the equivalent of 5.5K video (if there was such a standard).  Few people actually have a real need for this capability, but isn’t it nice to know it’s there? :-)

      (Disclaimer: You can only shoot 24 pictures-per-second if your shutter speed is 1/100th of a second or faster.  And you can keep that up for about six seconds or so until the otherwise massive buffer fills.  Then the write speed of your memory card becomes the limiting factor for shooting speed.)

      Other welcome speed improvements include the ability to play back your last few images without having to wait for everything to be written to the memory card.

      1.1.3 High Frame Rate (HFR) videos

      Being able to move data off the sensor so quickly enables some really nice slow-motion video effects (or possibly a music video for Sia http://bit.ly/1VuNiaZ ).  Your camera has two different methods for capturing slow-motion videos:

      1.1.4 Tools for Videographers

      It’s interesting to note that the 1-type sensor was designed with video journalists in mind.  The video quality even excelled compared to what the larger full-frame and Super-35" (the video industry's equivalent of APS-C sized sensors) sensors were capable of producing.  How is this possible? 

      The answer has a lot to do with the fact that sensors for high-end cameras can capture significantly more pixels than what is required for video.  And just as throwing away pixels in Photoshop to reduce the image's size fuzzifies the image a little bit, so too do the subsampling techniques used when grafting video onto a high-res still camera.  This results in other artifacts too – mostly moiré-induced color stripes.

      With the smaller 1"-type sensor, Sony doesn't have to subsample anything – it reads out every pixel for every video frame, and averages things together as needed (depending on the video format chosen).  In addition to sharper and artifact-free video, the perceived noise is reduced as well.

      There are a host of other features on this camera targeted specifically at video enthusiasts:

      XAVC S 4K video is the obvious feature here.

      There's also a XAVC S HD video format that records in HD (1920 x 1080) offers double the bit rate compared to earlier cameras (100 MB/s) and a higher frame rate (up to 120 frames per second for NTSC), allowing for the creation of smooth slow-motion video.

      Ultra-slow motion (the High Frame Rate function) is another obvious one (1000 frames per second in PAL, 960 fps in NTSC).

      Picture Profiles are a series of settings designed for professional videographers who intend to post-process their video (usually referred to as 'grading' in the video world).

      Better video quality due to a new downsizing algorithm – instead of sub-sampling pixels which create a lot of artifacts, the Bionz X hardware accelerator chip samples every pixel from the sensor and downsizes from there, resulting in sharper video with fewer of those pesky artifacts.

      Zebra Stripes, a feature which professional videographers have been using for decades (Figure 1-5). 

      This is a feature made especially for videographers who are also social media moguls.  It is designed to address this very scenario: You’ve just shot some cool high-res video and you want to share it on Facebook while still in the field.  So you bump your phone to the Camera (using NFC) and transfer the video footage to the camera so that you may then upload it to Facebook.  The problem is that the high-res video footage is LARGE, it takes up a lot of space on your phone and it uses eats up your data plan in the process.  There’s GOT to be a better way!

      Leveraging the fact that Facebook just crappifies (that’s a word!) video anyway when you upload high-res video to it, Sony has now given you the option of storing video in two different formats: The high-quality format (XAVC S 4K, XAVC S HD, or AVCHD), along with a [much] lower-quality .MP4 version which is the perfect size for uploading to social media in the field.  (This is an even smaller size and lower quality than can be selected manually via the menus.)

      You can enable Dual Mode via MENU --> 2 --> Dual Video REC --> On.  See Section 5.8 for which Record Settings allow its use.

      1.1.6 Capturing Stills in Video Mode has returned

      I really liked this feature when it was on the RX-100 II.  Basically, when you press the shutter release button while shooting video, a video capture was produced simultaneously and written to the memory card. 

      That feature, called Dual Record, vanished on the RX-100 III but now it's back and with much, much better quality than before!  You can now capture a high-quality 17 megapixel image when shooting in certain video modes.  (Section 11.7 has all the details.)

      There’s also a feature where the camera will grab a still video frame for you when it thinks your composition looks impressive and save it as a .jpg on the memory card all on its own.  That feature is called Auto Dual Record and you can learn more about it in Section 5.36.

      Where in the world did they find the room to put it?

      The EVF is useful on bright sunny days when the rear LCD is too washed out to see anything useful.  To use it, pop it up using the lever on the left side, and then pull the rear element toward you so it will look clear when you hold it up to your eye.

      The EVF also has a diopter adjustment, so those of you with basic eyesight ailments can dial in a correction and use the EVF without needing glasses.  To adjust it, call up a menu screen, and move the lever atop the extended EVF until the image looks sharp.

      I will say the EVF (for all cameras having EVF, not just this one) has a weakness if you’re an eyeglass wearer: if the sun is at such an angle that the light shines between your eyeball and your eyeglasses, then the EVF image itself is likely to washout, and you’ll have to block the sunlight from hitting your eye in order to see what’s going on.  The solution: Take off your eyeglasses, look into the EVF directly, and trust that the autofocus will do its thing well.

      1.1.8 Wi-Fi and NFC

      There have been SO many times in the past when I took a picture with my original RX-100 and wanted to post it to Facebook that instant.  Couldn’t do it – I had to transfer the images to my laptop first and upload it once I got back to my hotel.)  What I would usually do instead is whip out my smartphone, take the same lower-res shot with its built-in camera, and upload it to Facebook, all the while letting people know that I have a much better picture in my other camera.  An example from a few years ago (before Sony started putting this feature into its cameras) appears in Figure 1-6.

      Well, your camera has a built-in Wi-Fi feature which helps to address this very problem – it lets you send your images wirelessly either to your home computer via your 802.11g/n router, or to your Wi-Fi equipped smart phone.  And if your smartphone has NFC (more commonly known as bump), the entire image transfer process becomes insanely simple once everything is properly configured.

      Here are some cool and essential things about this feature:

      It was designed to upload images to social networking sites.  And so the camera gives you the option of sending resized (smaller) images to your phone – high enough resolution for the internet, and much smaller so your international data plan doesn’t get eaten up so quickly.

      If your smartphone has the new NFC (Near-Field Communication) feature built-in, you can save time and initiate said transfer by simply touching the back of your phone to the camera’s N logo while viewing the image you wish to share.  It works, it’s simple, and it’s the feature I’ve wanted for a long time.

      Again, using your Wi-Fi (and optionally NFC)-equipped smartphone, you can use your smartphone’s screen as a remote viewfinder, and take stills and movies by remote control!  I think I’ve had more fun playing with this feature than any new feature of any camera in recent memory.

      Those of you who love the idea of tethered shooting might welcome the ability to transfer the images you just took to your home computer via Wi-Fi if you also have quite a bit of patience.

      I give the details of using each of these new features in Chapter 4.

      If you’re fond of taking selfies, the RX-100 V's LCD hinge is made for you.  You can also use the hinge to shoot over a crowd – just hold the camera upside-down and over your head.

      One thing you’ll notice immediately if you try to shoot a selfie is that the LCD display automatically goes into mirror mode (so you look like you normally see yourself in the mirror), AND the camera invokes a needless 3-second countdown timer when you’re sitting there holding a stale smile.  You can disable this undesireable timer via MENU --> 5 --> Self-Portrait/ -timer --> Off.

      1.1.10 Awesome Lens and Its Sweet Spot

      If you’re an experienced photographer, you already know that the Zeiss name is the Rolls Royce of optic brands.  During World War II they were producing some of the sharpest lenses in the world (and this was before computer design or multi-coatings).  For decades they were the only supplier of lenses for the medium-format Hasselblad cameras, and also for the high-end Contax RTS 35mm film cameras. 

      For the RX-100 V, Sony and Zeiss designed a relatively fast lens (f/1.8 at the wide end), which is a nice thing to have on a point-and-shoot since it helps when shooting in low light and it can also help to get artistically blurrier backgrounds in certain conditions.  (And I’ll explain what those conditions are later on in this book.)  And there's not much light loss while zooming in as there tends to be with most point-and-shoot zooms; at the telephoto end the f/stop shrinks to f/2.8 (i.e., hardly any light loss).

      This lens also offers the ability to focus on things very close (1.9 inches) to the camera (usually referred to as macro mode) when the lens is set to wide-angle. While it doesn’t perform quite like a traditional macro lens, it can certainly come in very handy (which is the whole point of this camera, right?)

      The Len's Sweet Spot

      Every lens tends to have a sweet spot – an f/stop setting right in the middle of its range in which the sharpness tends to be the best.  Where is it for this lens?  Figure 1-8 shows the answer.

      The RX-100 V incorporates a Neutral Density filter in the light path, allowing you to take great head shots (with blurrier backgrounds) in bright, desert-like conditions.

      It’s also a great aid for taking photos of silky-smooth waterfalls by attenuating the light, necessitating longer shutter speeds which is necessary to create the effect (Figure 1-9).  The built-in Neutral Density filter reduces the light transmission by 3 stops, and can be set to On, Off, or Auto (which is the factory default).

      1.1.12 Sweep Panorama

      Every camera does this now.  We all forget just how much math and PhD dissertations went into the capability – the camera starts to stitch images together while the panorama is still being taken!

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1